For SURE the T3i. You should always go with a DSLR over a mini handheld camcorder for anything where picture quality matters. Interchangable lenses (including the snooty L lens line) which will give you awesome depth of field and be far more film like than any mini camcorder. I happen to have a Canon T3i and side by side vs the competing Nikon, Pentax, etc, it beat them in the film tests. It also shoots stills at 18mp. You can youtube a camera's model name with the word 'test' or 'film test' and see for yourself the quality, lots of uploaders there

Keep in mind it's not a full sized sensor on the T3i so any lens you buy for it you have to times by 1.6 to get the true size of the lens used. For instance if you buy a 50mm lens, it's actually going to shoot as 50mm x 1.6 = 80mm

cool. word of warning though. the expenses only start when you first buy the camera due to all the lenses available for it. some people aren't crazy about one of the kit lenses that is sometimes bundled with it (18-55mm. i think its good though w/enough light) but the cheap $120 50mm f1.8 you can buy is pretty sweet even in low light and has great shallow depth of field/bokeh. questions when u get one feel free to pm

For the price of a Rebel t3i, you can get a Panasonic Lumix GH2, hack it (easily done - there are tons of tutorials online) and make it look better than a Canon 5Dmk2. There are comparison videos of the GH2 against a Red Epic (a $30,000+ camera) and it keeps up pretty well. Even without the hack, the GH2 looks incredibly well, but the hack not only allows a better depth of field, but also, allows a 192MB/s allowance, so you're not capped by the 25 min max film limitation (even the 7D/5D is capped by this limitation due to the FAT32 data process).

I would HIGHLY recommend a Panasonic Lumix GH2 over a T3i anyday. Here is some video:

RED Epic vs a Panasonic GH2 (go about 1:45 in to see comparison shots)

i actually prefer the canons to the panasonic in those tests you posted. (no bias, not a canon nut rider by any means. in fact i almost got the sony instead of the same class). not sure why they have to choose different ISO and lens size for side by side tests though but i found the 5D/7D more filmlike in these tests. on the girl video, her skin looked more natural to me. a tint of rose to her cheeks vs pale-ish. but i would have to know what things looked like in person to judge as even the couch was a different shade of brown. all personal taste i suppose and i'm sure the panasonic is a very nice camera. would be very surprised if their glass can complete with canon glass L series. what tiny bit of reading i did i found the panasonic can take adapters to use nikon glass which is cool i guess since nikon is high quality. they can probably take canon too. in any case i'm in no rush to return my T3i but if i were shopping for a DSLR I'd do some serious research. for now i'm happy with my lenses, film like quality and functionality, but one day I will get a 2nd body and then it's research time. whatever i get it will be full frame not crop sensor

chaplinshouse - thanks for the heads up on the panasonic which i'm unfamiliar with

i actually prefer the canons to the panasonic in those tests you posted. (no bias, not a canon nut rider by any means. in fact i almost got the sony instead of the same class). not sure why they have to choose different ISO and lens size for side by side tests though but i found the 5D/7D more filmlike in these tests. on the girl video, her skin looked more natural to me. a tint of rose to her cheeks vs pale-ish. but i would have to know what things looked like in person to judge as even the couch was a different shade of brown. all personal taste i suppose and i'm sure the panasonic is a very nice camera. would be very surprised if their glass can complete with canon glass L series. what tiny bit of reading i did i found the panasonic can take adapters to use nikon glass which is cool i guess since nikon is high quality. they can probably take canon too. in any case i'm in no rush to return my T3i but if i were shopping for a DSLR I'd do some serious research. for now i'm happy with my lenses, film like quality and functionality, but one day I will get a 2nd body and then it's research time. whatever i get it will be full frame not crop sensor

Yeah I would go with a 5Dmk2 or 7D (actually, I have a 7D), but as a secondary camera, I don't mind getting the Panasonic GH2 at all, especially since it's only $750). I think the shots above were on an UNHACKED GH2, which is out of the box. But the HACKED GH2 actually looks really good as well, here's another video of the hacked GH2:

BTW the Canon L lenses are nice, but also remember that they have a lower F stop, which makes them desirable in low light shooting. If I did buy a GH2, (which I will decide to buy in August against the GH3 which comes out that month), I will most likely use the adapter to Canon EF, as I'm not crazy about buying a bunch of new glass. Though IS would be compromised and there is no chance of auto focus (which in manual mode for video, wouldn't matter a whole lot anyway since I don't do sports shooting). The 5dmk2 is only $2200 now (yeah! only!), but I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a 5dmk3! Also, the D800 looks extremely nice. I'm impressed more and more by the new cameras coming out, as back in the 90s when my father was filming and editing video, everything was untouchable (in the $20,000+ range to begin with).

To clarify, what I meant is that the L lenses are nice, but to me there are comparable sigma and lower priced canon lenses with a higher f stop that can compete with the L series lenses. And yes if I HAD the money and job to own L lenses, I would buy them, but I don't unless I wanted to go into years of debt.

Of course if I really had the money, I'd buy a Red Epic, Red Scarlet, or Canon C300, but in the meantime, a hacked GH2 is enough to tell the documentaries and shorts I'm involved in.

Anyways, some more hacked GH2 vids (hopefully they work, and view in fullscreen for highest quality):

very nice! some of those clips are downright cinematic. panavision-esque. agreed that it seems like a solid choice as a 2nd camera (since it's crop sensor, u probably want a full frame as your main). the gh2 canon adatpers are also cheap which is a big bonus. i also heard they have a nice sound when snapping pics unlike canon. i want that cool pro camera motor sound when i snap pics! haha. i also agree sigma has some sweet lenses. I have a Rokinon 8mm wide angle/fish eye which is supposedly the same lens from the same factory as the Sigma, just a different name stamped on it. hate losing IS or AF (even though i rarely auto but nice to be there when u need it) though, but for shots where run and gun is required i can always use my canon xh-a1s or even the vixia hfs100 (which by the way i have a whole DOF setup for that lol. looks like a bazooka when i'm shooting but that setup can't be used for run n gun). next time i'm in a store i'm going to try out this gh2! slap my own mem card in, take it home and view the results. if i fall in love i'll get it but it would have to be so nice to make me go through the hassle of selling my t3i since i don't want two crop sensor cams (the 5DmkII is in my future)

well sure that's what i like about the L's, great low light. not all are that fast though (F/4) but even those shoot great in low light at f/5.6 and higher (due to the pristine quality of glass? not sure but cams at f/5+ are NOT supposed to shoot badass in low light yet somehow they do it) can sigmas compare in low light? my rokinon 8mm can't but i haven't tested it vs a canon super wide

i hear ya on the debt thing. been drooling over this lately. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006I53W/ref=gno_cart_title_1 but i just got out of debt so must... not.... pull.... trigger! ahhg! that is a great price though. (went up 18 bucks from yesterday's 1299) no IS but f/2.8 L 200m for 1300? I need a sugar mamma. :p seriously too many expensive interests between music video and photography

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